Several types of canvas boat canopies have been used on fishing boats to provide the fishermen with shade. Typically these prior art devices come disassembled and the consumer must do the assembly. Usually it is necessary to drill holes into the gunwale of the boat in order to attach the canopy. In addition, prior art canopies often use nylon straps as supporting devices, which interfere with and reduce the area of the boat which can be used for fishing.
The present invention has a solid bow instead of the split bow found in prior art devices and comes partially assembled. The canopy removeably attached to the gunwales by means of clamps which are an improved version of the clamp described by King (one of the co-inventors of the present invention) in U.S. Pat. No. 5,163,652. The canopy can be easily assembled by means of a plurality of quick-disconnect pins.
The present invention has the advantage of being easy to install without the use of tools. It can also be moved easily into various positions and therefore does not interfere with fishing.
Another advantage is that all of the tubing is the same size, and thus the canopy fits together tighter and is less likely to come apart than prior art devices which use different sizes of tubing.